miri international jazz festival

The first ever Miri International Jazz Festival was held this year on the 12th and 13th May at ParkCity Everly Hotel down by the Pavillion. I bought tickets to attend it on both nights and dragged Mark along. Sorry, honey. Thanks to Daniel who got his mom to get tickets for me at the very last minute.. Hahaha. It cost RM80 for a two day pass and RM50 for a one day pass.

They had bands that came over to Miri to perform. Bands that came from our own backyard and also ones that were from the other side of the world.

The main stage was in the Pavillion itself. Outside they had two big screens set up for the people outside to watch the performance going on inside the Pavillion. On the beach area, they had food stalls set up. In front of the big screens, they had tables and chairs for people to basically hang out and relax. Inside the Pavillion, there were only a couple of bar table and chairs but the place was basically left empty for people to dance to the music.


The First Night

I forgot to bring my digicam. So no pics for the first night. Sorry. Anyways, I left for the festival together with Aaron and Daniel and along the way, we picked Mark up. We arrived at ParkCity Everly just a bit before 6pm because the ticket said that the festivities would start by then. Of course, I didn't think so. But the boys (Aaron and Daniel) wanted to go early anyway. Found out later that the performances, etc. would only start at 7.30pm.

In the meantime, Daniel walked over to a nearby school to hang out with a couple of friends who were staying over there that weekend for an LSS thing whilst the rest of us just hung around the lobby together with a couple of friends who have volunteered to help out with the festival (so that they could get in for free). Hahaha. I was gonna volunteer as well but at last minute decided not to because I was afraid that they might make me work both of the whole nights through that I may not be able to enjoy the music.

Btw, the food and drinks were so overpriced that I didn't spend a single dime on the first night. Was too scared to. Hahaha.

All the Best was the first band to perform that night. They're local to Sarawak, which is the state in which Miri is in. They played traditional jazz, I think. I actually had a hard time paying attention to them which is pretty bad already. Not to say that they were horrid. Well, actually, the first song they played was really horrible. And it was all cos of the keyboard's melody. I don't get it. It was not in tune with what the rest of the band members were playing and it was so out of key.. There was this one time when the keyboardist switched to use the piano for another song where he played tunes usually played on a Sape which is a traditional instrument used by the Ibans here in Sarawak. That was the only interesting thing about them, I think. They should've just used a real sape instead of playing the tune on a piano though.

Nah Youn Sun was the second band up to perform that night. They are a band from France with their lead singer coming from Korea. They said that the lady that was previously an actress in Korea who didn't quite make it so she moved to France where she became a singer for that band instead. She's got a great voice, btw, so it hasn't been a total loss. What's weird about this band though is that they sorta have a sound that is close to that of Bjork. Cos that's exactly the way the girl sings their songs. Just that they're jazzier than Bjork. Haha. They had this one song where she was singing about homemade toast, milkshakes, pancakes, and other foodstuffs. Weird!

UBlues performed after. The band is from Singapore. However, their frontman is localboy Trevor Jalla who was originally from Miri itself who then moved to Singapore. Their kind of music suited me more as I am more able to relate to blues rather than just jazz. I'm sure it was the same for many of the people there as blues is more recognised. Btw, blues originated from jazz so you can't say that they shouldn't be there just cos they're not really playing jazz. Loved their performance.

The Gangbe Brass Band were the last to perform that night. They're all from Benin which is located in Western Africa. Cool trumpeting and all. They performed very well and got the crowd all up in a frenzy. Too bad I couldn't really understand their singing cos they were singing in their own language. But that's what music is about anyway, right? Being able to appreciate it even when it's in a language we're unable to comprehend? Hehehe. I know my friend, Kym, enjoyed it cos she kept saying that she wants to get the album.

But before the last band ended playing, Mark and I decided to crawl into the car to catch some Zzzz's. Mark was grumpy cos he was sleepy the whole entire time. Hmph. Useless.. so I decided to bring him to the car to sleep while we waited for the festivities to be over so that Aaron and Daniel would be ready to go back home. Didn't stay in the Pavillion the whole entire time during the festival though. Moved out of there cos the fucking angmo's are retards who kept leaving their empty beer bottles/plastic cups/wine glasses on OUR table! Bloody drunkards. Anyways, we also spent some time by the poolside, lounging on the lounge chairs out by the pool, lounging on lounge chairs up on a little hill, listening to music, whilst looking at the stars, whilst cuddling, whilst making Kym ever the more jealous. Hehe. Whilst also getting bitten by mosquitoes.

Got home at 1.30am.


The Second Night

For the second day, I arrived at the festival a bit later than the day before. That was cos before we headed to the festival, we all went swimming so when we got back home at 5.30pm, I had to shower first and you know how long girls can take in the shower. It's almost impossible to get a turn! Ahahahahaha. Anyways, this time Mark and Daniel didn't follow me over cos Daniel found himself a ride and Mark had a party to attend but promised that he would meet up with me at the festival a bit later. Awww.

PS. Don't worry, I brought my digicam this time. Click on the pictures to enlarge them. ;)

So this time, Aaron and I picked up Mark's brother, Matthew and another one of my friends, Jason, for the festival. Was suprised to find that there were still a lot of parking spaces as I was kinda expecting the parking lot to be full already, but I guess it was cos of the Miri City Parade that was also going on on that same day so traffic had to be diverted and some cars maybe got confused about how they were supposed to get to ParkCity Everly at the time. I know I would've been too if not for Jason who told me which way to go. Haha.

PPS. I heard that they were saving all the really good bands for the second night.

Anyways, see my wrist band? I got a good number so I just HAD to share. XD !!

00100!!

Mambo Jambo were the first band to play that night. Mambo Jambo are all from the UK. They played tunes that were more towards mambo but hey.. I'm not complaining! They were really good! I enjoyed their performance immensely. They played tunes that were dancable to. Not to mention the fact that the lady in their band was really talented. At least, from my point of view. The fact that she was able to play the guitar, the saxophone, the flute, and the clarinet qualifies her for the talented status. ;)

Mambo Jambo.

The Shanghai Jazz Ensemble were second up that night. As if their band name wasn't enough of a giveaway, this band comes from China. The band had trumpeters, a saxophone player, a piano player, a drummer, guitarists, a violinist, singers, and another guy who played a traditional chinese instrument (I forgot what they were called). They had this one male singer whose name sounded like what dick means in chinese. Haha. Serious. Anyways, they sounded good too. The girl had a good voice. The band played really well which was to be expected anyway because Shanghai has long dabbled in jazz. I almost forgot to mention the fact that they announced that their pianist was planning on moving to Miri soon. I don't know the reason why.

Shanghai Jazz.

On the second night, we managed to get a table to sit at outside the Pavillion out on the terrace. We had a good view of the stage whilst still being able to enjoy sitting under the bright night sky. The moon was shining brightly and we had a view of the fireworks that were being played far away which came from the Miri City Parade.

Enjoying the view.

Fra Fra Sound was the third band to play that night. This band came from the Netherlands. I only managed to get one good enough shot of this band. So sorry about that. Anyways, they had a very good guitarist who somehow managed to solo throughout a whole entire song. Which is weird. Cos you can't call something like that a solo. Not when you got people backing you up and all. I guess you can just say that he lead the song. Okay, I don't know how to put it. Haha. Btw, Kym said that this band had a lot of good looking band members. So yeah, that's why I'm sorry cos I won't be able to show you what they look like. Teehee.

Fra Fra Sound.

Every band got to perform for an hour before there would be a half hour break for the next band to get set up and for people to start going around to buy food or more drinks to get drunk by. In my case, Kym, Mark, and I headed towards the playground to camwhore a bit. Hee. Also to play swings!

Playground playtime.

It was soon time for the next band to play so we headed back to the Pavillion.

Lluis Coloma was the last band to play for the night as well as the festival. Lluis Coloma came all the way from Spain. Lluis Coloma is actually the pianist and I suppose the brains behind the band. He's really good at the piano.. actually, EVERYONE in that band was so very talented!! It was seriously so amazing watching them perform. The rumours were true! They really did leave the best for last. Of all the bands that performed for the festival, I should say that this was the band that totally made my money and time worthwhile.

Every single person in that band got to have a solo. Except for the drummer.. poor thing. Poor me! I was so looking forward to a solo from the drummer since everyone else in the band got to solo themselves. Not to mention the fact that they were all seriously good musicians. Of all the bands that night, I think this band got the loudest cheer.

Mark was actually not convinced about jazz until we watched these people perform. He doesn't even like jazz that much but watching Lluis Coloma perform made him want to buy their CD already! That's how good they are. As soon as they finished their encore (everyone kept screaming for one, even me), Mark and I went over to the booth where they were selling CDs of the bands that have performed, unfortunately, their CD was SOLD OUT! I bet a ton of other people sneaked out of the Pavillion during their performance to buy a CD. Damn! Damn the fact that I was so mesmerized by their performance that I wasn't able to walk out and turn my back on them!!

Lluis Coloma.

They also had one saxophone player who I think is a bit of a show off because when it came to his solo, he would either head out to the front of the stage and choose to play without the mike or he would get off the stage and start walking around, playing his saxophone amongst the crowd.. but then again.. at least he had a right to act that way cos he was good at what he was doing that you can't help but forgive him for his arrogance and love him instead.

Btw, I should mention here that Kym's dad is sooooooooooo adorable. Cos during the festival, he could either be found sitting cross legged on the floor in the Pavillion, moving a little to the music, and looking about him like a curious child... or up on his feet dancing. Even when he was buying food down by the food stalls. So cute, I tell you!

Anyways, the festival didn't end when it was supposed to because after awhile, the UBlues band decided to have a little jamming session together with all the other bands that were at the festival. First, they jammed together with Lluis Coloma himself. Then Lluis Coloma's other bandmates decided to join in on the act.. They were FANTASTIC! If only my camera didn't run out of batteries.. I could've at least gotten a video of them playing together. I swear.. the jamming session with the mixture of different styles of different bands were great! So great that it was probably even better than the performances themselves. What's more, it was all spontaneous!

After a song, a singer from Fra Fra Sound joined in and did a little scat singing thing before going off stage again. Fantastic!!! Can you hear me applauding maniacally?? During another song, they got an African lady to sing together with the band. She's not actually with any of the bands themselves, at least, I didn't see her perform until then. I do wonder where she came from.. but anyways, her singing was superb! She's got a great great great voice! Exactly the kind of voice that you would hear singing along to old Jazz or Blues songs. Loved it! And apparently she's been singing in one of Miri's clubs/pubs/bars. Maybe I should try scout her out just to see her perform again.

Jam session. UBlues, Lluis Coloma, and Fra Fra Sound.

Unfortunately we had to leave early cos we all had church later on in the morning. Very sad that we had to do that cos they were still jamming and they managed to convince the African lady to sing another song. But we gotta do what we gotta do. Got home at 2.30am.

PS. Oh yeah, this night, I actually spent some money on food, drinks, and beer. Haha.

Needless to say, I enjoyed myself immensely and that an encore is in order. There's always next year. ;)